Overview

Position: LB

College: Ohio State

Class: Junior

Age: 20

 

Measurables

Height: 6’4 1/8”

Weight: 241 lbs.

Arm length: 32 1/2″

Hand size: 9 1/2″

 

Athletic testing

40-yard dash: 4.46 sec.

10-yard split: 1.58 sec.

Vertical jump: N/A

Broad jump: N/A

Bench press: N/A

3-cone drill: N/A

Short shuttle: N/A

 

Strengths

Prototype size and length. Excellent overall movement skills and athleticism. Versatile and moldable skillset to play the edge. Looks the part on the edge. Great speed and acceleration. Tremendous agility at his size. Terrific ability to break down and tackle in space. Rare change-of-direction skills to stick with ball-carriers trying to elude him. Bouncy and stays on his toes. Very good reaction time when he sees things develop. Effective filling the hole and tackling. Good feel to position himself versus cutbacks. Very effective wrapping up to finish. Keeps a strong base to hold his ground taking on offensive linemen on the second level. Extends to keep blockers off his frame. Looks to be the aggressor taking on blocks. Will take on a blocker with physicality and disengage to make a tackle. Rangy tackler in the box. Quick side step to avoid a block on the second level. Great pursuit towards the sideline. Able to stop and start while pursuing a ball-carrier trying to shake him on outside runs. Very quick first step lined up along the line of scrimmage. Used on plenty of mug looks. Highly impressive dip move as a rusher. Flashed major power to push opponents back on power rushes. Impressive feel for how to pursue the quarterback as a rusher. Effective rushing on delayed stunts. Very patient and ready to pounce as a quarterback spy. Holds his ground setting the edge versus the run. Strong taking on lead blockers when lined up on the edge. Good ability to recognize runs as the backside defender from the edge. Very comfortable in zone drops. Very fluid and can cover ground deep in the backpedal. Great ability to burst out of the backpedal in coverage. Excellent foot quickness and reaction time covering running backs in man coverage. Strong pressing tight ends in coverage. Experience in man coverage outside the numbers.

 

Weaknesses

Could be more aggressive trying to make a tackle in the hole rather than latching onto a blocker. Sometimes seems to guess rather than trying to read things to pick up the ball at the mesh point. Can get stopped in his tracks when opponents catch him as a run blitzer. Would like to see more consistent all-out pursuit away from the action. Can be fooled by the quarterback looking him off on screen passes. Still finding ways to win and free himself as a rusher.

 

NFL comparison

Quay Walker

 

Conclusion

Overall, Reese is a very athletic defender with prototype size and rare movement skills as a tackler, blitzer, rusher, and in coverage. He is still a young player and has shown encouraging improvement in terms of play recognition to match the traits.

 

Big Board ranking: #5 | Positional ranking: #1